Next to Love

Next to Love
By Ellen Feldman
Spiegel & Grau, 2011. 292 pgs. Fiction

Babe, Grace, and Millie are all young, deeply in love, and recently married--and their husbands are all headed off to fight in World War II, along with many other young men from the town. However, not all of these men will come home, and even those who do won't come home whole. The women all soon come to realize the devastating effects of war on relationships and every day life.

Being just before the men go off to war, this book then follows the lives of these three women and their families up through the 1960s, showing their struggles and heartaches. This isn't a good choice for those looking for happy endings, but it is a thought-provoking, realistic portrayal of how some people never recover from the trauma of war and heartbreak. It's also an interesting look at what it means to love, although it does somewhat emphasize the physical nature of love, so more conservative readers may want to skip this one.

AE